Visa launches smartphone-based payment tools to support SMEs in emerging markets

Visa has introduced new capabilities across its Visa Accept and Visa Direct platforms, expanding the ways smartphones can be used to accept and send digital payments as the company seeks to support small businesses in emerging markets.

The updates are designed to help merchants, from street vendors to online retailers, manage payments using smartphones, reducing the need for additional payment hardware while streamlining payment acceptance and fund transfers.

Shahebaz Khan, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial and Money Movement Solutions for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Visa, said smartphones are becoming increasingly central to commerce, enabling businesses to accept payments, access business insights, and manage customer interactions through a single device.

Visa said the expansion reflects the growing adoption of digital financial tools among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). According to the company’s Global SMB Macro Trends Report, 99% of surveyed SMBs use at least one digital finance tool, while 85% said these tools have benefited their businesses.

The company also noted that around 530 million of the world’s 1.3 billion unbanked adults already use smartphones, creating opportunities to expand access to digital payments.

Visa Accept enables eligible merchants to turn a smartphone into a payment terminal, allowing them to accept contactless card payments or payment links through a Visa debit or prepaid account without additional hardware. Funds can be transferred in near real time while maintaining Visa’s security and dispute protection features.

Visa said faster access to funds can help businesses better manage cash flow. Its Global SMB Macro Trends Report found that one in five surveyed SMBs experiences cash flow gaps on a daily or monthly basis, while nearly 28% reported difficulties accessing credit or borrowing tools over the past year.

The solution also enables banks to allow eligible customers to accept payments directly through their banking apps. Visa Accept is available in more than 25 countries and has launched with partners including HNB in Sri Lanka, Banco Agromercantil de Guatemala, Sacombank, and VPBank in Vietnam. Co-op Bank in Kenya, along with Access Bank, Omni Bank, and Universal Merchant Bank in Ghana, is expected to launch the service in the coming weeks. Visa aims to make the platform available to millions of merchants worldwide by 2027.

Visa has also expanded Visa Direct, its real-time money movement platform, enabling small businesses to send payments from the same smartphone used to accept customer transactions.

Through banking, fintech, and business platforms, merchants can pay employees, contractors, and delivery drivers, issue customer refunds and incentives, and transfer funds internationally to eligible cards, bank accounts, and digital wallets.